LIFE IS RAD Author: Stephen Cass
Review by: Anne Carly Abad
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From bananas to bomb tests, radiation is everywhere…” I was really surprised when I read this article. Radiation has always been a cause for worry because of its cancer-causing potential, and the general danger it poses for health. That’s why we avoid it. But, read this, according to Stephen Cass, a single American actually receives an average of 360
millirems of radiation per year, if that sounds complicated, just think of receiving about 36 chest x-rays and you’d know what that number is worth.
Radiation comes from external and internal sources. For external sources, first is the whopping 200 millirems of radiation from the gas radon—a byproduct of the element uranium which is found in tiny amounts almost everywhere. How does an invisible, odorless gas like radon produce radiation? It is through the natural process of
radioactive decay. When radon undergoes this process, it releases alpha
particles (which are made up of 2 protons plus two neutrons), beta particles (energetic electrons), and gamma rays (high-energy photons).
Meanwhile, x-rays contribute an average of 53 millirems. Then, next in the line of radiation emitters are the random objects around us—food, people, trees, almost everything! All objects contain isotopes, which are radioactive
atoms that have a different number of neutrons compared to that of the normal, stable atoms of the same element. Cass illustrates this by using the element
potassium as an example. The isotope potassium-40 occurs very frequently in nature and exists in the ratio 1 potassium-40 isotope for every 8,550 potassium atoms. Since potassium is an essential electrolyte for the body, it isn’t unlikely that humans are taking in a lot of radioactive potassium atoms from
sources like milk, bananas, and even harmless-looking sports drinks.
The list does not yet end. 27 millirems come from strange things called cosmic rays, which travel at near light-like speeds and are made up of protons and radioactive particles. They are said to “smash” into the upper atmosphere and, and upon collision, send out
muons (particles that have the same charge as electrons but is much more massive). Thus, living in higher altitudes exposes a person to more radiation.
Now here is another surprising truth: those seemingly harmless smoke detectors found in malls, restaurants, offices, etc. actually produce an average of 10 millirems per year. This is from the isotope Americium-241 which is essential in the detectors’ mechanism. This is so odd considering that only 2 millirems of radiation per year come from nuclear weapons testing and nuclear power plants combined.
Neutrinos, which are particles produced in the sun’s core, account for the rest of the millirems of radiation that come from external sources. These invisible particles can pass through “matter like a laser beam through fog,” but once they do hit an atom, radiation is produced.
Now, where does the rest of the radiation come from? An amazing average of 40 millirems of radiation comes from
within. Yes, from our very own bodies, and the bodies of anything that undergoes processes that are essential for living. Radioactive decay is just a natural process that happens in our bodies…So, I believe it is not that wrong to say that our bodies are actually like tiny nuclear power plants. It’s sort of scary, since radiation has such a negative reputation. But it’s also very amazing, for one would truly see how everything in the world is interconnected. Radiation isn’t just something that we get from computer screens, or nuclear, power plants, or even the stars, for we ourselves are sources of radiation…Amazing.
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